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I was terminated from my job for violating company policy, logging in from home which other technicians did as well and was told by more than one of them, as well my supervisor stated this to me himself, they said I was falsifying time cards I was hired as salary non-exempt, this was only brought to my attention at the termination, I was conducting company business contacting customers through my Blackberry and laptop who's computers I was working on and then going in, . I would on more that one occasion log out of the system and still be working sometimes for an hour or more after my shift would end, unfortunately I worked by myself and no one would know that I was still there in the plant, I was ever given any warnings or never told you cant log in from home you have to be in the plant they will for sure deny my unemployment and I will appeal, I have never been terminated from a job ever in my life and I am 48 years old, what do I put on an application what do I tell employment agencies I may never get a job again because of this sorry for the really long post I am desperate.
Unfortunately it is actually against the law to do what you did. It goes back to time clock punch cards when I was in high school and if you even allowed someone else to punch your time card in or out it was against the law. If you forgot to punch out and asked someone else to do it for you - it was against the law. What you were doing falls within this law that was enacted sometime in the 1980's. I'd have to do a bit a research to find it for you.
Go ahead and file for unemployment. Be sure to tell them you own supervisor had told you this was done and other techs did this, that you were not aware you were breaking a rule and you were never warned ... Simply discharged. If all you say is true you may very well get unemployment. The unemployment commission often grants benefits to those who were not warned for the first offense of a breach of policy. I wish you the best of luck.
Also it's not against the law to clock in from home, while traveling, at starbucks, or anyplace. Many non exempt employees do remote clock ins. It would be a violation of company policy if the company had a policy against it, but no law forces a employer to use one method over another so long as what they are using is accurate. Do you sill have a copy of the company policy and procedures? If so look through it and see what it says. It may say you can;t do it unless you have authorization from a supervisor. Now, will the supervisor back you up or cover his butt and not admit to it?
My guess is this company has been hit with an overtime lawsuit in the past and had to pay big time.
If, for example, you are non-exempt and paid salary based on 40 hours a week, and then do things such as log in remote, use blackberry, etc without manager approval, you are technically working more than the 40 hours and can go after the company for back pay plus damages so to speak and claim you felt you had to work those hours, etc.
Frankly I am surprised that if they do not want you to work more than 40 hours, they allow remote access, blackberries, laptops, etc without manager approval and express forbidding of working more than xx hours. Most companies in this situation don't give or allow vpn, remote mail access and same with the blackberries, seems a little suspicious to me. You didnt try to claim more than 40 hours or something on your time card did you?
I have to agree with the argument alluded to above--if it wasn't allowed, why did they give you the means to do it? Also, if you are a salaried employee, it shouldn't matter that you did work while off the clock. Salaried means you work as many hours as is necessary to get the job done.
So, if I'm understanding the situation correctly, there shouldn't be much of a hurdle to getting unemployment. The company may initially dispute your claim, and then you get a hearing where you get to tell your side of the story and they tell theirs. All you have to say is that everyone did it so you assumed it was company policy and that you had never been told otherwise. Unless the company can provide proof that that isn't the case, you would win.
As for what to tell future employers, say that you were fired for regularly working overtime when it was required to get the job done and your company didn't want you to do more than 40 hours. Employers are smart, they'll read between the lines and understand that you were a good worker and your former employer had some issues.
One last thought, you do sound a little panicked. That's completely understandable, but take the time to think back on your exit interview or conversation, and the weeks leading up to your termination. Are you sure that you understand correctly the reason for your termination? And are you sure that you weren't given any verbal warnings, even delivered in a kind manner? I mention this because I know how in these situations, your blood pressure goes sky high, your mind is racing a mile a minute, your ears are ringing--its easy to not hear everything that is being said in your exit interview. It's possible that later on you may recall some things that give you more insight on the whole situation, insight that may help you both in your unemployment claim and in future job applications (recollections such as that the company was experiencing financial problems and the reason for termination was a smokescreen, or that the remote work was only one of many issues that you need to explain when applying for jobs so as not to appear that you are lying about the reasons).
If, for example, you are non-exempt and paid salary based on 40 hours a week, and then do things such as log in remote, use blackberry, etc without manager approval, you are technically working more than the 40 hours and can go after the company for back pay plus damages so to speak and claim you felt you had to work those hours, etc.
It doesn't sound like that's what happened. It sounds like he was accused of not working enough hours because they didn't know he was working when he wasn't on their system. Instead he was working on his blackberry. Those hours worked on blackberry and his own laptop are considered hours he didn't work but claimed he worked.
If this is true OP, is there any way you can obtain proof from your blackberry and/or your service provider? Did you send emails to customers and coworkers via your blackberry? Can you use the date/time stamp on emails to prove you were working? Look for whatever way you can to prove you were working the hours they claim you are falsifying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kodaka
I have to agree with the argument alluded to above--if it wasn't allowed, why did they give you the means to do it? Also, if you are a salaried employee, it shouldn't matter that you did work while off the clock. Salaried means you work as many hours as is necessary to get the job done.
That's not accurate, kodaka. He's "salary non-exempt" which means he qualifies for overtime pay. You're thinking of "salary exempt" which are employees who are paid the same regardless of how many hours they work. The way I keep them straight is thinking of the phrase "exempt from being paid overtime."
The word "salary" is what's confusing you. Even people who are paid hourly can be paid salary. Companies calculate their yearly earnings and divide by the number of pay days in the year. If they earn overtime, extra money will be added to the regular "salary" pay for that time period.
Unfortunately it is actually against the law to do what you did. It goes back to time clock punch cards when I was in high school and if you even allowed someone else to punch your time card in or out it was against the law. If you forgot to punch out and asked someone else to do it for you - it was against the law. What you were doing falls within this law that was enacted sometime in the 1980's. I'd have to do a bit a research to find it for you.
You don't understand his post. He wasn't falsifying time cards. He was under the impression that he was an exempt employee. Exempt employees don't officially keep track of their hours the same way nonexempt employees do. (Although they all should because if they are treated as non-exempt employes, they deserve to have back overtime paid to them.)
Your link of the Wallington man is irrelevant. The OP wasn't claiming and collecting overtime pay. He had no idea he qualified for overtime since he believed he was an exempt employee.
If your blackberry or laptop are widely understood as recognized tools of your trade, yet your employer is unwilling to allow the very flexibility
that these devices offer in the pursuit of his business, and is penalizing you by termination for doing so, seems like mandating, that a law enforcement
officer must carry a weapon even while off-duty, although he could be punished for using it. Cheer up, if you were being honest with them, google just
might be your best witness. I'm prone to believe that the people up at unemployment DO still have a measure of compassion and I'm sure that things will
work out o.k. for you.
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